Meet some of the outstanding authors who call the Sunshine State home.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Barbara Levenson - Mystery and Murder in Miami

Mary Magruder Katz is not your garden variety attorney. Half
Southern Baptist, half Jewish, with a love life as fiery as the South Florida
sun and a penchant for getting herself into trouble, this feisty female
protagonist is the title character in a series of mystery novels by Miami judge-turned-writer
Barbara Levenson. The Mary Magruder Katz Mysteries give readers an insider’s
view of the legal system while taking them on a suspense filled romp through
the city that has become Levenson’s adopted home. Levenson describes her books
as “Nancy Drew for grown-ups.”

An Ohio native, Levenson graduated cum laude from the
University of Miami’s Law School and began her legal career as a prosecutor.
She later started her own law firm focused on criminal defense and civil rights
litigation. In 1992, Levenson was elected to a judgeship in the Miami-Dade
circuit court.“I’d always loved
writing, but with my job, I never had the time to do anything other than legal
writing,” she says. “I started writing fiction as a retirement hobby. I had lots
of ideas from my time in court. Instead of focusing on the facts of a case, I
began writing about the people. The rest was simple.” She signed up for a writing
course at Miami-Dade College and was “so intrigued” that she took another. Her
instructor was impressed with her work and suggested she apply for a summer
program in Ohio. Her manuscript was accepted, and after completing the program,
she came home and began writing in earnest. A year later, her first novel, Fatal February, was published, and Mary
Magruder Katz was born.

Fatal February
(2009) started as a series of short stories based on Levenson’s experiences in
the courtroom. “Mary is a composite of many of the women attorneys I knew,”
Levenson explains.“I hope their
viewpoint comes through to the readers.” Mary is also a product of Miami:
unpredictable, edgy, passionate and energetic. In Fatal February, her life is turned upside-down when a minor traffic
accident introduces her to Carlos Martin, a handsome Latin real estate
developer.Her love affair with Carlos
causes her to break her engagement, lose her job with her former fiancé’s
prestigious law firm and start her own law practice. Soon Mary finds herself
defending the prime suspect in a high-profile Miami murder case. The Library Journal
praised Fatal February as “A fun
debut, full of humor and joie de vivre.”

Mary’s exploits continue in Justice in June where she becomes entangled in three cases: two
personally connected to Carlos and one that puts her life in danger as she
investigates wrongdoing in Miami courts.

Outrageous October, the third book in the
series takes place in Vermont. Mary leaves Miami after a nasty break-up with
Carlos and heads for the tranquility of a small Vermont town. Unfortunately, an
unsolved murder pulls Mary into a web of intrigue. A mysterious intruder, an abducted college
co-ed, a complicated relationship with a handsome young attorney and a feud
between neighbors that ends in homicide soon make Mary long for the comparative
peace of Miami.Levenson spendssummers and fall in Quechee, Vermont. “This
book was written to satisfy my Northern New England friends who wanted a book
of their own.

Neurotic November was launched in November, 2014 at an amazing
launch party at Books and Books in Coral Gables.This beautiful independent book store was
filled with a standing room only crowd and a sell-out of books. Readers were
happy to find Mary returning to Miami in a whirlwind of new cases. The plot
involves the murder of a friend’s ex-husband, and a University of Miami
football player accused of sexual battery on an underage girl.Levenson hopes Mary’s exploits will entertain
her readers and leave them feeling like they’ve vacationed in Miami. “Miami is
so much more than South Beach,” she says. “It’s an exciting city with the
diversity that adds so much to life.But
it’s also filled with people who live like people everywhere. They work, go to
school, raise kids. They just do it in better weather.”

This summer finds Levenson in the midst of writing Dangerous December that will be
available in the winter of 2016.Of
course, there are murders, and a Medicare fraud case, among other chaotic
happenings.Mary and Carlos’s hot
romance rises to new levels.The
Thanksgiving recipes that accompanied Neurotic
November were such a hit that Dangerous
December will include Christmas and Chanukah recipe surprises.Look for family fireworks by New Year’s Eve.

When asked about the future for Barbara Levenson, she
confided that she is working on a serious novel about the lives of four women
and one Cuban rafter.Stay tuned!

For more about Barbara Levenson, visit her website at www.barbaralevenson.com.

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JACQUELINE

Based on a true story, "Jacqueline" is a tale of family, faith, unusual friendships, and the resiliency of the human spirit set against the backdrop of occupied Rennes in 1944. With the drama of fiction and the authenticity of personal history, "Jacqueline" is both a story about family and a family's story.

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About Me

I'm currently a columnist for The Island Reporter, a publication serving the South Gulf Beaches in St. Petersburg, Florida. My Florida Authors series features articles based on exclusive interviews with some of the state’s best writers. My “Pride & Joy” column
profiles individuals who give back to their communities through volunteerism.
I'm also the author of two novels."Project June Bug" is the story of a young teacher’s efforts to help a student with ADHD. It has received 12 awards, including Premier Book Awards “2009 Book of the Year.” My latest novel, "Jacqueline,"(published by Anaiah Press) is a middle grade historical based on an experience my dad, a WWII veteran, had while stationed in France shortly after D-day. Four of my stories have appeared in "Chicken Soup for the Soul" editions.
I live on Treasure Island (yes, it's as beautiful as it sounds), with my husband and two rather noisy macaws. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, walking on the beach, and visiting family in New Jersey, where I'm the proud "Grammy" of six beautiful grandchildren (with the pictures to prove it!)